


Hardwood

by talesofsuspense



Series: Happy Steve 2018 [4]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe, Apartment hunting, Domestic Bliss, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Moving In Together, also doesn't feature heavily but it's there, kind of? IDK, kinda -- it's implied.
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-01
Updated: 2018-12-01
Packaged: 2019-09-05 00:49:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16800379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/talesofsuspense/pseuds/talesofsuspense
Summary: Steve takes Tony apartment hunting with him (though, really, it feels like the other way around).





	Hardwood

**Author's Note:**

> this was done with the utmost love for my happy steve bingo prompt "apartment hunting"
> 
> i originally had a different idea for this, but it was too long and i sort of lost inspiration after 1.1k words. maybe i'll flesh it out one day, who knows.
> 
> i have a soft spot for fluff, can you tell?

Steve watched as Tony paced around the kitchen of the apartment they were currently touring, lowering his sunglasses (that he was wearing _inside_ , for God’s sake) to inspect the hardwood floors and run his finger across the granite countertops. He could see the realtor, Michael, hovering out of the corner of his eye, no doubt anxiously awaiting Steve’s response. Steve rolled his eyes at Tony as he walked over, glasses resting on the end of his nose, “What’s the verdict Mr. Stark?”

“It won’t do,” Tony frowned slightly, the left side of his mouth dipping down and a crease appearing between his eyebrows. Steve wasn’t even surprised at this point, biting his lip to keep from grinning even though he was more than exhausted. “The hardwood floors would have to be replaced. The granite counters tops are okay, but there are scratches. I mean maybe I could get the landlord to let me replace-”

“Tony,” Steve interrupted, crossing his arms in front of him, raising his eyebrows at his boyfriend in amazement. “You do realize people have lived here before me? It’s in perfectly fine condition. It’s much better than where I’m currently living. Definitely less dusty. And I certainly would not be letting you replace everything in here, even if you have the money.”

Tony pouted up at him, reaching an arm over to open the fridge door, grinning when it squeaked, “See, old fridge? You never know when it could go out. I know you can’t afford to replace a fridge right now.”

“This is the fifth place we’ve seen Tony,” Steve sighed, uncrossing his arms and running them over the front of Tony’s blazer. “They’ve all been perfectly acceptable to me, but you keep finding some reason I can’t stay in them. Why is that, hm? I think Michael over there is getting anxious.”

“I just want the best for you,” Tony bit his lip and Steve couldn’t help but smile at him. “Come on, just a few more. Two. Two more and then I promise I’ll let you pick one.”

Steve groaned, stepping back and looking over his shoulder at Michael, who was still hovering anxiously. He couldn’t even believe he was letting Tony dictate his apartment choices. _Whipped_ , said a voice in his head that sounded suspiciously like Sam, “Fine, two more, but that’s seriously it. We’re going to give Michael an ulcer from the stress at this point.”

Tony grinned in victory, gesturing towards Michael with his right hand. Steve just sighed and walked over to him, cringing internally at the hopeful look on his face, “Michael, I’m sorry, but do you have any other places you could show me?”

Steve watched the man’s face fall, the hopeful expression being replaced by a facade of polite contentment before a full frown could form, always maintaining his professionalism even in the face of Steve and Tony’s longsuffering inability to be satisfied. He watched as Michael dutifully pulled out his tablet, scrolling through his listings he had that would fit Steve’s needs and price range. Steve frowned a little when he shot Tony a look out of the corner of his eye. Steve turned to look at Tony for himself. He grinned at Steve, sunglasses now perched on top of his head, and waggled his eyebrows at him. He shot him a small smile back and turned back in time for Michael to tell him he had two more possible listings to show him. Perfect, Steve thought with a sigh.

Predictably, Tony hated the next listing too. Steve had smiled as he complained to steve about the ‘outdated and bland’ carpeting, the ‘bordering-on-offensive’ light fixtures, and the sliding door to the balcony that got stuck when you tried opening it. He’d _hmm’d_ and rolled his eyes fondly as he trailed behind Tony through the apartment, already knowing he wasn’t going to approve. That was obvious from the way he had scoffed at a small piece of chipped paint on the front door.

“Okay, final place,” Tony clapped his hands together excitedly as they got back in the car to follow Michael to the next place. “I have a good feeling about this one.”

Steve grinned at him, buckling himself in, “You do, do you? And why would that be?”

Tony pursed his lips in a clear attempt not to grin too widely, “Oh, no reason. The last time’s the charm and all that!”

When they came to a stop in front of the final place, Steve frowned, “Tony, these are luxury apartments. I can barely afford the crappy one I’m in now. Why would Michael bring us here? More importantly, what did you have to do with this?”

“Babe, just roll with it,” Tony rolled his eyes as he stepped out of the car, offering his hand to Steve with a small grin. “I’m sure Michael brought us here for a good reason. Maybe they’re cheap!”

Steve just sighed, taking Tony’s hand and walking inside. They had to take the elevator up, because apparently their apartment was on the _top floor_. Michael was already waiting for them at the front door with the keys in hand. He was smiling, and Steve thought it actually looked genuine this time.

“Welcome home,” Michael said, still smiling as he unlocked the door and shoved it open so Steve and Tony could walk inside.

“Welcome… home?” Steve’s breath hitched when he walked inside. It was an open plan apartment. More than that, it was fully furnished. A stainless steel fridge, white marble countertops, very modern hanging light fixtures over the island. _An island_ , Steve thought a little giddily. The living room had a black sofa that had an edgier, sleeker look than Steve typically liked, but he thought it paired well with the dark red coffee table in front of it. He walked further into the apartment, turning down the hall towards the bedroom and bathroom. He gasped when he saw the walls. They were just white, but there was Avengers’ pictures covering them. A portrait of Tony on the right, one of them all in the middle, and one of Steve on the left. Steve felt his eyes sting and heard shuffling behind him, knowing it was Tony without even having to look. He turned around and saw Tony standing a little awkwardly, hands clasped in front of him. “What- what is all this?”

“Well,” Tony started, wringing his hands in a nervous way Steve hadn’t seen from him in a long time. Or at least not since Steve had let himself into Tony’s house to find him running up the stairs with a smokey smell on him, hands up to prevent Steve from walking any farther. “I know we haven’t been together than long, so I totally understand if this isn’t what you want right now-- or you know, _ever_. That’d be okay too. Well, not okay for me emotionally, but I’d respect your wishes because I love you and I don’t want to force anything, especially not myself, on you-”

“Tony,” Steve interrupted, watching Tony’s head jerk up to meet his eyes. “Just tell me what’s going on. You know I love you too, you don’t have to be scared.”

Tony sighed, brushing a hand through his hair, “Okay, I know this is a pretty big deal, so like I said-- don’t be afraid to say no. But I was sort of hoping you’d like to make this our home, together. As in we both move in and live together for the foreseeable future. Because, really, we practically do live together already, right? I mean you’re always over at my place, or I’m at yours. We’re rarely home alone without each other, so I thought, maybe-”

Steve cut him off by wrapping his arms around his waist, drawing him closer so he could kiss him. It was a soft kiss, one that he used to convey his love through because he wasn’t sure he could verbalize it right now. He was a little overwhelmed. He had to break the kiss when he couldn’t stop grinning into it. He let his arms wrap loosely around Tony’s hips, leaning back so he could look him in the eye, “Tony, my sweet, brilliant, idiot boyfriend. I love you so much. I seriously can’t believe you did this. Tony, of course I’ll move in with you. You’re already my home, you have been for so long. How could you ever think I’d say no to this, to a shared life with you?”

“Well,” Tony said, grinning when Steve peppered his face with kisses. “I thought it might be too fast. I’m glad to have been proven wrong, for once. I reject the label of idiot, though.”

Steve just smiled at him, rubbing his hands gently over his back and enjoying the way Tony shivered lightly, “So, was this the whole plan that you had Michael in on too or what?”

“Actually, he didn’t know about this until I hacked his tablet and put this listing on there under the name ‘Tony and Steve’s new home’ while you were looking at a bathroom of something,” Tony said, smiling smugly. “That’s why he shot me that look at the fifth place. I genuinely was going to let you pick. I mean, I guess it’s kind of obvious I wasn’t sure you’d say yes. You could pick any of the other ones if you wanted.”

“Tony Stark, you are a fool,” Steve said fondly, ruffling his hair before stepping back to grab his hand. “And I love you. Now let’s go get the keys to our place from Michael.”

“I love you too. And welcome home.”

**Author's Note:**

> this is an AU, but applied loosely? i didn't really put much thought into what exactly was different and the same. are the avengers just their friends? or are they still superheroes but just living different lives? it's up to you i guess.


End file.
